The Human element
by Ridel
Summary: AU: Did mankind originate on earth? You might be surprised to learn that we didn’t. Why do humans hold so much interest for both the Autobots and Decepticons? Our past is much more interesting than most know. To say nothing of our future.
1. Chapter 1

_:Prologue:_

_The Exodus_

_**:1,000,000 years ago:**_

"_Alert, Alert, Decepticon forces have broken into the launch facility."_ The voice rang through the corridors of the Autobot base. Dread, anxiety, fierce determination. Emotions already strung high twanged tight with the new information.

The Decepticons had damaged their primary power supply and the whole base was running off of the back up generators. Dim emergency lights bathed the halls in red.

Down in the central control room, Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, turned to regard two figures in the gloom.

"The Decepticons are trying to break through our line is sector nine." He said, his voice a commanding baritone. "Kup, Hotrod, Go up there and give Ultra Manus some back up."

Kup, obviously the elder of the two, raised his hand in salute. "Yes sir!" he said in a slightly gritty voice. "Come on kid." He said to the other mech, who nodded grimly before the two of them rushed out of the room.

Now, Besides Prime himself, the room held only two other occupants. One an Autobot scientist, the other a human. He nodded to both of them.

"Brainstorm, Auren, what's our status?"

"We're almost there Prime." Answered the Human. A middle aged man with graying hair. "We've got everyone onboard, and they're just about finished loading what's left of the supplies."

"The launch station has its own generators, so take off shouldn't be affected by the Decepticons attack on our primary energy station. The Exodus should be able to leave within the next fifteen minutes." Continued Brainstorm.

An explosion and another alert. the Decepticons had broken through the Autobot's defenses somewhere a few floors up.

Optimus turned back to a computer terminal and read the flood of clipped reports grimly. The battle was _not_ going in their favor. "I'm afraid we may not have that much time. Brainstorm I want that ship off the ground as soon as Professor Auren is onboard."

Auren felt a tightness in his chest at the Autobot commanders words. They carried a note of finality. This was it, what he and the others had been working towards for years. And strange as it may sound, now that the moment was upon them, he found a part of him wishing it was further still. The Human looked up at Prime, hardly able to distinguish his huge form in the dim emergency lights. If all went well, this would be the last time he would ever see the Autobot leader, who had been such an inspiration to everyone around him.

He nodded his head gravely. "Good bye Optimus Prime. And thank you."

Prime nodded. "Take care my friend."

With that Auren turned and sprinted out of the colossal room. A moment later Brainstorm followed after him.

"Auren wait!" he called from halfway down the hall. The Human stopped and turned back, waiting for the Autobot to catch up with him.

"What's wrong Brainstorm?" he asked anxiously, knowing that every minute counted.

There was a very short pause, punctuated by the sound of distant battle. Then it seamed the Autobot found the words he'd been looking for.

"Auren, you are a brilliant Scientist. One of the most gifted humans I've ever known. We really need you here."

Auren shook his head, a look of regret on his face. "No Brainstorm. My people need me now. I mean, who else will fix the ships systems if they break down in deep space?"

"You've trained others for those situations. There's a whole army of mechanics and engineers onboard." Brainstorm pointed out. "I'm serious Auren, stay."

The Human sighed and his shoulders sagged a little. All the weariness of a life time seamed to be contained in those two small actions.

"Brainstorm, Can you remember any point in you're life where you were not at war with the Decepticons?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

"Of course I do. I was created before the war started." Answered the Autobot.

"I wasn't." Said the Human tiredly. "Ever since our races made contact. Ever since you and my great great grandfather invented the resonator system, each new generation of humans has been born amid bomb shells and lazar rifles. Brainstorm, It's time we learned a new way of life. Our own way. We deserve that much. My wife is on that ship now waiting for me, and I'm leave on it with her."

Brainstorm wanted to argue, wanted to somehow convince his human friend to stay. But he knew it was a lost battle. He knew that Auren had the right to leave. To help his people escape a war that wasn't even theirs. After all, freedom was the right of all sentient beings.

So he simply bent down and put his hand on the fragile humans shoulder, completely dwarfing him.

"I understand. You've been a good friend to me Auren. You and your family… Good luck."

Auren nodded and patted the Autobots hand. "Yeah, you too." He said, a small lump forming in his throat.

Brainstorm smiled underneath his faceplate. "Now get your aft in gear before the ship leaves without you!" He gave the human a playful shove.

"Hey!" Cried Auren as he staggered back. He glared at his friend in mock annoyance.

"Alright I'm going already! Take care of yourself you big metal jerk."

With that Auren turned and took off running for the ship.

Brainstorm stood in the hall staring after him for a few minutes longer. Then he turned and walked back down to the launch control room.

He reentered to find Optimus Prime loading a lazar rifle with extra energon rounds.

"We just got the message, Professor Auren has arrived onboard the ship. Launch sequence can begin at anytime." He said smoothly.

The scientist nodded and strode over to one of the computer terminals.

"Brainstorm!" Called Prime. Brainstorm turned, Optimus was looking at him gravely.

"Ultra Magnus Radioed in a few moments ago. Megatron is here. Inside the base."

The Autobot scientists optics widened. He felt a little ember of dread start to crackle deep in his circuits.

Optimus handed him the rifle and started to reload another. "He's trying to stop the launch personally. He should be here shortly."

Brainstorm was no stranger to war. But the thought of being confronted by Megatron himself was enough to make him feel sick at spark.

Wordlessly he turned back to the terminal and began the preliminary launch sequence.

Every moment seamed to bring the sounds of battle closer and closer.

After what seamed like an eternity Brainstorm finally announced that the ship had liftoff.

Optimus had barricaded the door as best he could while the scientist worked, but it wouldn't be anywhere near enough so stop the Decepticons. At best all it could do was buy them a few more seconds of time.

Suddenly Brainstorm shouted out in alarm. "Decepticon Seekers attacking the Exodus!"

Prime's head snapped up. "What!?" He rushed over and stood beside Brainstorm, watching the scene outside unfold. The Decepticons were trying to disable and capture the ship. But the humans were not completely defenseless. All gun ports were open and lances of white hot light streaked across the night sky. The Seekers were agile and able to hold their own. Optimus's fists clenched.

"Send a message out to Skylynx and the Arial bots, I want that ship protected. And send Omega Supreme to help defend the space bridge. The last thing we need is for it to be disabled or destroyed before the humans can use it."

Brainstorm was halfway through relaying the order when suddenly the room was filled with the sharp stabbing sound of feedback.

"Hey!" Cried Brainstorm, covering his auditory receivers.

Prime cursed and activated his own communications system.

"Optimus Prime to Ultra Magnus. Come in. Prime to Magnus. Kup, Springer. Can anyone hear me?" All he got in return was more feedback.

He looked grave. "We're being jammed."

The Scientist went back to work, his fingers flying across the keyboard at twice the speed they had before. "I managed to contact the Arial bots, but we were cut off before I could get through to Omega supreme."

Suddenly there was a loud smashing and grinding sound. The barricade shuddered as something pounded against it.

"Move!" shouted Prime, as he dove behind a computer terminal. Seconds later the barricade was blown apart, shards of metal flying in all directions. There was hardly any time to process the moment.

He heard Brainstorm cry out in pain and shock, accompanied shortly by the sound of his body crashing hard on the metal floor. Saw the room begin to fill with acrid smoke, making it almost impossible to focus on the looming figure standing in the decimated doorway.

It strode forward and became the unmistakable shape of the Decepticon leader. Several lazar burns scarred his body, and a deep scowl was set on his stone grey face. Blood red Optics scanned the room and took in one Autobot, dead or dying, and…

Megatron raised his arm canon and fired, but Optimus was faster and escaped with only a grazed arm.

"I want that ship Prime." Growled the leader of the Decepticons.

Optimus readied his own weapons from the laughable safety of yet another computer terminal. "It's not yours to have Megatron! The humans have been a part of our war for long enough. Or have you forgotten how to fight your own battles?"

He dodged out from his hiding spot and fired a quick round into the billowing smoke. It was now impossible to make out the other party. There was an answering canon blast, and Optimus cried out as his left shoulder was struck.

He ducked back and sat apprehensively, not knowing from where the next attack would come.

Fortunately Optimus was as invisible to Megatron as Megatron was to him.

"My forces have this facility completely sealed off and surrounded. As we speak your Autobots solders are falling to the Decepticons dozens at a time. Is it really us who have forgotten how to fight our battles?"

A stray breeze from the ventilation system cleared the smoke for a moment. Megatron quickly dodged out of the way as a lazar shot across the room, making a huge hole in the wall right where he had been standing.

000

"I can't raise Optimus Prime or the others." Said Ultra Magnus, striding over to the small group of surviving Autobots.

"Do you think they're alright?" Asked Hotrod, then hissed in pain as the medic working on him reconnected the nerves in his right arm. "Hey watch it doc! That stings!"

Ratchet rolled his optics heavenward. "Quit complaining. At least you still _have_ an arm to sting."

"I can't raise anyone either. All I get is feedback." Said another Autobot, lowering her hand from her com.

Ultra Magnus nodded. "We're defiantly being jammed. This has got Soundwave written all over it."

"That pit born son of a glitch." Cursed Kup from his place in the corner. "We can't afford to lose communications now. What if Prime needs help? He and Brainstorm are alone in Launch control."

Ultra Magnus bent down and retrieved his lazar rifle from the rubble littering the decimated hallway. He spoke as he reloaded it. "You're right. Kup, Arcee, we're going to have to find and stop Soundwave. Make sure you've got enough ammo before we head out."

"Hey Magnus what about me?" Called Hotrod, trying to stand up. Ratchet pushed him back down again.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked sternly. Hotrod gave him a pleading look.

"Aw c'mon Ratch, I'm fine, just a few dents and scratches." He tried to stand up again, took two tottering steps then fell back, landing amid the debris with a crash.

"Fine huh?" Scoffed Ratchet crossing his arms. "Most of your minor systems are completely fried, including your gyroscopics. What good are you going to be in a fight if you keep falling on your aft?"

Hotrod was about to protest, but he was cut off by Ultra Magnus. "Don't argue Hotrod. You stay here until Ratchet says you're fit for combat. Then you can join us again. That's an order."

Hotrod deflated a little, temporarily defeated.

Kup and Arcee cocked their weapons, standing ready. Ultra Magnus nodded to them and they followed him down what was left of the near pitch black hallway.

000

Surfacing from unconsciousness, and feeling strangely detached, Brainstorm noted the huge piece of shrapnel half sticking out of his chest plate. Energon and coolant were leaking from the wound in trickling streams and mixing on the burning hot metal floor. Smoke and voices, short flashes of searing light. He couldn't focus, couldn't process the information his optics and his Audios were sending him. He could feel himself shutting down, becoming too weak to even think. When suddenly a voice cut through all the confusion and pain. It was choppy, but it's message clear.

"_-imus Prime, come i-! -is Red Alert. The hu -man ship managed to - orbit, but our moon -ase was hit. -e can't start the jump -equence from here! You need to run the -ackup program from -ybertron! -o, can anyone hear -?"_

Brainstorm heaved and shuddered, but managed to crawl to his knees. Megatron saw the movement from the corner of his optic and rounded on the dying scientist, canon humming with the power of an unfired blast.

Optimus made use of the distraction and lunged at him, tackling the grey mech before he could get the shot off. The two grappled on the floor while the dying Autobot pulled himself upright, Sparks and fluids spraying.

Reaching out a hand he could barely control, Brainstorm grabbed onto the computer terminal and desperately began typing.

It was the work of a moment to get the program online, and by the time Megatron broke free from Optimus long enough to fire a fatal canon blast at the scientist, it was too late.

The second the blast hit, Brainstorm died. But he left the universe with a feeling of giddy success. In his last few seconds he'd seen the Space Bridge spring to life, and the human ship disappear far beyond Decepticon reach.

They would be safer on their own. And he hoped that Auren and the rest of the humans would be able to make a war free future for themselves. Where ever they ended up.


	2. Chapter 2

**:Chapter one:**

**Rediscovered**

**:Earth year, 2002:**

He stood in the observation deck and regarded the blue green planet below him. He surveyed the energy rich world, which seamed to offer no end of surprises. And he found it _good._

Starscream smirked. At the moment his ship was keeping quiet station on the planet's moon, to avoid detection by the local creatures.

At one point he had thought his talents wasted on this expedition. Megatron had sent him out on it under the pretense that it was a undertaking of supreme importance. And it was important, he had to admit. But not _so_ important as to warrant his personal supervision.

It was a task he would have been well suited to in the past.That was then. Now he was a warrior. Cunning, ambitious, battle hardened, and Megatron's second in command.This assignment was no honor. He knew it. Everyone knew it.

With a scowl, he remembered the dialogue which had lead him to this duplicit duty.

"_But Megatron! Surely you need me here to-"_

"_Enough Starscream!"_

_The towering Grey and black mech turned sharply, cutting his second's complaint off with a glare._

"_With your previous occupation as a scientist and explorer you are the obvious choice for this mission." He explained. "As it stands, we are dangerously low on energon. And if we want to survive the next few thousand years, we are going to need more than the meager scraps we manage to seize from the Autobots. That means bringing in Eergon from outside sources."_

Starscream scoffed. That was it. An errand. It hadn't taken long for Megatron to see that his second had become perhaps a bit _too_ ambitious. And so he'd been sent where he would no longer be a bother to the _current_ Decepticon leader.

However, he had not taken into account what Starscream might find on his travels. And now, if he was proven right, as he had no doubt he would be, Megatron would pay the price for it.

This planet. The blue green sphere, with its rich energy reserves and its fleshling inhabitants, would help Starscream take his place as ruler of the Decepticons. Then he would lead his people to the universal dominance they so rightly deserved.

He savored the mental image of himself, head of an empire spreading from one end of the universe to the other. Crushing all opposition easily underfoot. It really was a beautiful picture.

His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming from the corridor behind. He half tuned to see Soundwave approaching. If he'd had his way, Starscream would have gladly left the communications officer back on Cybertron. But Soundwave had been hand picked by Megatron to accompany him on this mission. He turned back to the window and scowled as the tall navy blue mech came to a stop and saluted behind him.

"Report." Said Starscream, somewhat irked by the interruption. He had been quite enjoying his reverie.

"Sir, they have finished analyzing the fleshling specimens," He said, stating every word in clipped monotone."

Not a flicker of emotion passed on Starscream's face. This was the report he'd been waiting for.

"And the findings?" He asked.

Soundwave continued. "Our examinations have shown that five out of ten of the subjects carry the resonance. Out of these, the ratio of those resonating strong enough to be compatible with Cybertronian technology is one in five."

Five out of ten and one out of five. It certainly wasn't as useful as he'd expected. It meant that quite a lot of time was going to need to be spent picking through the planets fleshling population. They couldn't just land and take as they needed. But this was certainly better than nothing. It was progress.

"Excellent work Soundwave." He said and turned around fully, looking the mech in the visor.

"You may dispose of the useless ones. But prepare the others for interface. I'd like to see how they react to the armor myself."

"Should we not send a report back to Cybertron?" Asked the communications officer instead.

Starscream's face tensed, his jaw set. When he next spoke, his voice was dangerous and low. "I am in command here, and I gave you an order. When I have seen exactly how useful these fleshlings can be, _I_ will send a message back to Cybertron. Now get to work!"

There was a pause. It lasted only a few seconds, but it was too long nonetheless. Then Soundwave finally saluted. "As you command." He said. Then turned and left the observation deck.

Starscream's optics narrowed at the retreating form of the communication officer. _'He's going to cause trouble.'_ He thought to himself as he turned back to view the planet below. He had no place on his crew for Megatron's supporters. A thoughtful smile worked it's way to the corners of his lips. Perhaps the organic planet might supply him with a means to get rid of him. After all it was still largely unexplored.

An accident on an alien planet well, who could blame him if Sounwave was being careless?

True, it was not in Soundwaves nature to _be_ careless, but Starscream was sure he would be able to think of a convincing story when the time for explanations came. He had plenty of supporters, both on the ship and back home.

**000  
**

Once outside the observation deck, Soundwave made his way back to his personal quarters.

As he walked he passed by many other Decepticons. Their conversations seamed to die away whenever he approached. Soundwave was a loyalist to Megatron. Most of them were not. They either supported Starscream or didn't care either way. But Megatron had selected Soundwave specifically for this task. This made the other Decepticons wary.

"You ain't seriously gonna' let_ him_ make the report, are ya'?" Asked a voice over Soundwaves internal comm..

"Negative Rumble." He Replied as he finally reached his own quarters. With a hiss of air the door slid easily aside and he walked in.

"Lock." He commanded as the door slid shut behind him. It did so with a mechanical 'clank.'

Soundwave's quarters were Spartan to say the least. Decepticons were practical by nature, but even so they often found things to make their personal space personal. Little battle trophies, Data pads or music strips.

The total lack of such items reflected Soundwave's personality. nothing that didn't absolutely need to be in his quarters stayed. He had a recharge berth, a desk with a few lightly glowing reports, and that was it.

Except of course for the small box he kept in a hidden compartment under the floor panels.

"Lazarbeak- Eject. run program 0027." With that Soundwave's chest plate sprung open and a large red and black object shot out. It transformed mid air. Changing from a flat rectangular shape, to an avian form like that of a bird of prey.

Lazarbeak circled the room once or twice before finally coming to a rest on soundwave's right shoulder. It made soft whirring noises as it ran the requested program. After a short while soundwave received it's report, transmitted directly to his processor.

His quarters were free of bugging devices. He was able to proceed whenever ready.

"Hey Soundwave, what about me? You gonna' let _me_ out any time soon?" Whined Rumble, again talking over their internal comm. If he had been one to show emotion, Soundwave might have sighed.

"Rumble- eject." He said flatly. This time when his chest plate opened, a purple rectangle shot out, and transformed into a humanoid form.

Rumble landed on his feet and stretched his arms above his head.

"I don't like this at all, boss. Screamer's plannin' somethin'. And I bet it ain't gonna' be fun for us."

Soundwave nodded to Rumble. Commander Starscream's attitude towards him had not escaped his notice. The possibility of betrayal was high.

Without a word he crossed the room and carefully opened the hidden compartment. He lifted the small black box out and carried it to his desk. Megatron had made sure that he got this before the explorer ship had left Cyberton. Flipping the screen open, he began recording his message.

**000**

"It's taken a little bit of modification, but the raw energy we've collected from the planet below can indeed be converted into energon."

Starscream nodded to the engineer but his face remained serious. "And what took so long?" he asked in an irritated tone of voice.

"Well you see," said the engineer, sounding just a little nervous. "The kind of energy inherent to the planet is quite different from the kind we've been using. Very unstable in fact. Our first attempts to use it for consumption were… well, actually the volunteer rather… Exploded, sir."

Starscream's optic ridge rose. "Exploded?" he asked smoothly.

"Uh, yes sir. Quite dramatically." Answered the engineer. "We'd thought that simply running the energy through an energon converter would be enough. But it turns out that it has to be finely processed before it is safe for consumption. We've now perfected the refining process, and the new energon is quite satisfactory. Also, on the positive side, after refinement we end up with twice as much energon as we would normally have. Shortage is no longer a problem."

The words were music to Starscream's audios. Now he and his crew were completely self reliant. No longer would they have to depend on shipments from Cybertron via space bridge. He smirked to himself.

"Excellent work." He said, causing the engineer a small amount of relief. "Now I want you to-" however his next words were lost as suddenly he was hailed from the bridge.

Scowling, he clicked his comm unit on. "Yes, what is it?" he barked.

"Starscream sir! We've just received a priority message from Cybertron." Answered an almost frantic voice on the other end.

"And?" snapped Starscream, not enjoying being left in the dark.

"It's Megatron Sir. He's coming here, now! the space bridge is already activating!"

The engineer stood back, astounded at the speed his commander displayed as Starscream bolted from the room, leaving a string of fading curses behind him.

'_No no NO! This is all wrong!'_ Thought the air commander frantically. Megatron couldn't know, he COULDN'T. If he'd been informed of what Starscream had found, then all of his plans were ruined.

Rounding a final corner, Starscream barreled into the Space bridge room only to see three figures already fading into being in the middle of the transport panel. Starscream grimaced as the figures gained solidity, though he quickly hid it behind a mask of unruffled cool.

He got down on one knee as Megatron descended from the platform, flanked by the other two Decepticons.

One he recognized as Shockwave. Calculating and logical. Also a loyalist to his very core.

The other was Lugnut. Starscream knew just enough about him to find him even more revolting than Shockwave. An extremely powerful mech with a single minded and often violent loyalty to the current Decepticon leader, Lugnut would quite happily follow Megatron to the pit and back.

"Hail lord Megatron." Said Starscream, trying to keep the fact that he felt like his wiring was squirming under his armor from showing.

"Rise Starscream." Said Megatron in a level tone. When Starscream got to his feet he could see that the Decepticon leader did not look particularly pleased to see him. Not that he ever really was.

"I apologize for the absence of my command staff, but we received very little warning of your arrival and we-" He began but was cut off.

"I am not in a mood to play games." Snapped the substantially larger Megatron. "I want a full report on the energy collecting you've been doing here. Why didn't you contact Cybertron as soon as you'd found a planet with energon?"

Starscream grimaced, but he'd already thought of the answer on his way to the bridge.

"It's true we found a planet brimming with energy. But it turned out to be far to unstable for Cybertronian consumption. I didn't want to send word back until we had something useful. As it turns out, I was in the middle of a meeting with the engineer in charge of refining the energy just prior to your, _unexpected_ arrival. He was informing me that they seem to have found a way to tame it."

Megatron seemed to consider this. "Hmm. Very well. An acceptable excuse." He said, in a voice that clearly conveyed that it wasn't.

Starscream couldn't help but feel slightly relieved.

"Now show me these Humans."

'_Slag!'_

**000**

The demonstration had been most encouraging. The subjects had resisted valiantly at first, but once they had been able to restrain them they interfaced with the exosuits wonderfully.

The suit itself was a reproduction which Starscream had one of his scientists build. He had sent a coded private message to one of his supporters back on Cybertron, and they had found a copy of Exosuit blueprints, buried under mountains of old data. They'd sent it back and now…

Megatron was scanning through various readouts and listening intently as another shipboard scientist explained their findings animatedly.

"Granted it will take some time and effort to retrain these humans to obey." He said, shrugging his massive shoulders. "They really are an extremely stubborn and emotional species, and it is impossible to reprogram them the way you would a mechanical life form. But I believe the outcome would be well worth the amount of work it would take. It's really quite incredible. On their own, these creatures could die of even the smallest of impacts. But when one of them who carries a resonance is interfaced, well, the results speak for themselves."

Starscream was standing off to the side, glairing at the back of Megatron's head. He'd already seen the results of the interface. So he spent the entire report trying to figure out how he could salvage the situation, now that Megatron had found out.

'_It must have been Soundwave who tipped him off.'_ He thought bitterly. If only he'd had a chance to offline him earlier…

Shockwave was questioning the scientist about the test subjects and taking notes on a data pad. Come to think of it, he'd been taking silent notes since they'd left the Space bridge room.

For his part, Lugnut was peering into the view screen which showed the security feed from the human containment unit. He seemed confused as to what all the fuss was about. Obviously unimpressed.

Finally Megatron turned from the scientist, who had finally finished babbling, and smiled at Starscream. It was not an altogether pleasant sight.

"Well Starscream, it seems congratulations are in order. You've done very well here." Said his leader in a voice as slick as oil on a pond. Starscream became slightly nervous. No, this could not be a good thing.

"Thank you sir." He said cautiously.

Megatron began walking slowly around the room. "This is indeed a monumental discovery. More important even then that of the large quantities of energon you've found."

"Yes my lord." Agreed Starscream.

Megatron came to a stop in front of the video screen, his worrying smile still in place.

Lugnut stepped aside to allow him a view of the exhausted humans.

"Which is why Shockwave will be taking over this operation, as of now."

Even though he'd been expecting something like this, Starscream felt himself fill with rage and indignation.

"What?! Shockwave! But Megatron, _I _am the one who _made_ this discovery!" He cried, hands clenched tightly into fists.

Suddenly Lugnut loomed up between the enraged Seeker and Megatron. His posture made it clear that if Starscream did not want to be reduced to spare parts, the air commander had better back down.

"Yes, you did make the discovery." Replied Megatron, his voice taking on a steely edge. "And you failed to report it as soon as it was made." He whirled on Starscream, his face now bearing a scowl instead of the unsettling smile. Lugnut took a treating step forward causing Starscream to stumble back.

Suddenly his instincts for self preservation kicked in. he scrambled for his earlier excuse and tripped over his words.

"B-but My lord Megatron! I already said!- I just thought that I should have had something more than t-theories to give you when I-"

"Silence!" Megatron bellowed. "Do you think I am a fool Starscream?" he asked, striding past Lugnut to stand face to face with the slightly cowering seeker. "Do you think I can not _see_ what you wanted?" without warning Megatron's fist flew and connected with the side of Starscream's faceplate, with a clanging and cracking sound. He staggered back and fell to the floor.

The scientist stared at the scene from his place across the room. Shockwave continued to review his notes, showing no interest at all in what was happening.

Before Starscream could get to his feet, Megatron's foot came crashing onto his chest plates, forcing him back down.

"I ought to have you melted down into slag." He growled, pressing his foot down harder.

'_This is it.'_ Thought Starscream, wincing in pain as his metal chest plates squealed in protest of the weight being exerted on them. _'This time he really is going to kill me.'_

"However," said Megatron, the weight lifting just a little. "In light of this latest development, I may still have use for you back on Cybertron." Starscream didn't dare try to speak. He simply lay there and waited for his leader to continue. Only when Megatron removed his foot from the air commander's chest and walked a little distance away did he sit up slowly.

Megatron motioned to Shockwave and Lugnut, both of whom fell in step behind him as he made his way to the laboratory door. "I expect to see you in the Spacebridge room in one standard hour." And with that, he and his followers left, the door hissing shut behind them.

Hesitating for a moment, the scientist finally came forward and grabbed his former commanders arm to support him.

"Let go of me you fool!" Starscream snarled, shaking his arm free of the scientists grasp. "Go feed the humans or something. NOW!" he barked. Without a word the scientist backed up and left the room. He'd already fed the humans an hour ago, but it was still probably a good idea to check up on them. Especially if it meant not being in firing range for a while.

Slowly, starscream reached up and felt his faceplate. His fingers explored a deep dent there and worked their way up to his left optic. It was cracked, distorting and dividing his vision. It hurt like the pit, but he knew that being left alive was getting off easy.

With as much dignity as he could muster, he got to his feet and exited the lab. Holding his head high in spite of the shaming mark Megatron had left there.

In an hours time, Starscream found himself in the Space bridge room. Megatron and his two escorts were already there, along with Soundwave. The seeker felt hot anger flow through his circuits, but wisely kept it under control.

Shockwave and Lugnut did not accompany the others back to Cybertron, but stayed behind with Soundwave. During the next few cycles, new Decepticons were assigned to the earth based ship, the old ones being transferred back to Cybertron, until almost the entire crew had been replaced.

The ship was no longer an exploration vessel, but the staging ground for a new line of attack. And once certain preparations were finished on Cybertron, things would really start to move.

**000**

A/N

**Well dang, this has been a long time in coming! I'm so sorry. :(**

**I just couldn't really stand the old chapter two, so I replaced it with something I hope is better. Defiantly taking the story in a different direction than I had planned before.** (It was the re-planning and subsequent writers block that killed this for so long.)

**Regarding Lugnut. I am not a huge fan of the new animated series, but I needed a big strong stupid loyal guy and well, there he was. Anyway I like mixing and matching different universes. You can pretty much imagine the characters being from any universe you want. I for one, was writing for **

**G1: Starscream. Soundwave and Shockwave.**

**Armada: Megatron. **

**Animated: Lugnut**(Well duh.)

**Since this took so stupidly long to write, I'd love to hear what you think. What you liked or didn't. :)**

**The next chapter is Autobot centric. **(Yay!) **I've already got the whole dang thing plotted out. It's just taking forever and a day to write it down. Should be nice and exciting when it is done though!**

** And I guess that's it.**

**Love y'all! **

_**Ridel**_


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